Year 920 of the First Age

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While traveling on a mission in eastern Vanara to resolve disputes among various clans of the Elifaen, Cupeldain and his party are set upon and captured. All of Cupeldain's party is murdered by being weighed with chains and drowned in a lake. Among those murdered are Loura, Cupeldain's wife, and their friends, Shevalia and her husband Bychanter. Blame is first cast upon the House of Hemlock, in whose territory Cupeldain was slain and which was a participant in the feuds that Cupeldain sought to resolve. This incident immediately sparks intense reprisals and further feuding that spreads throughout the region.

Learning the news, Cupeldain's son, Parthais, immediately takes an army into the feuding territories to force an end to the feuding and to find those who murdered his parents. He executes several men and women from both sides of the feud by having them drowned in the same lake where his parents were murdered. Afterwards, he releases a demon-serpent into the lake to feed upon the spirits of the dead, both the guilty and the innocent. The incident shocks all present, but Parthais declares himself King of Vanara and warns the people of the region against any further feuds that might threaten his realm.

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Lucinda of the House of Faircedar, a supporter of Hemlock, fears retribution on her people by Parthais, Cupeldain's son. She and her people leave Vanara bound for the northeast. They are welcomed by King Gardin of the Glarethian House of Beech.